


Better Thoughts

by summerartist



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Slice of Life, artificial body parts, ileostomy, in order to bring you fluff we occasionally have to battle some demons, ostomy, supportive!Tardis, supportive!Ten
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-07
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:35:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22604818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/summerartist/pseuds/summerartist
Summary: The Tardis knows when Donna isn’t feeling too strong around her Spaceman. Donna would rather keep her past on the down-low. The Tardis respects this up to a certain point.
Comments: 27
Kudos: 34





	1. Chapter 1

The Tardis had initially thought of humans as rather fragile. She knew how her Thief was equally as delicate sometimes, so she tolerated the humans’ presence and the attachments they formed. She even grew to care for them over the years. She quickly came to the realization that there was hidden strength within them in a myriad of ways.

She had her favorites. Jack always seemed to say things that warmed her from the inside out. Rose and Martha helped put the Doctor back together after all of the chaos. There were others of course. Donna came as a bit of a shock to her, not only because she had literally appeared within her perimeters, but because the human was a bundle of contradictions. Donna loved her Thief but she made her love fit a different definition. She was mentally strong and compassionate. She was also a bit of a nightmare to care for.

“Buzz off,” Donna ordered her for what felt like the third time in hours. “I’ll have him stop by my house in a few days and I’ll get more supplies then.”

The Tardis whinged, knowing how Donna had been burned by her own digestive juices in a frenzied incident during the night. Her pouching system had sprung a leak and her bare skin had become red and irritated from the acid. The Tardis had gently led her to the medbay to get cleaned up and apply a topical cream. Donna had taken it with ill grace and still refused to tell the Doctor. Donna was used to caring for herself with the bare minimum of resources and seemed to expect to be ridiculed for her problems.

“Look, if it’s a health related emergency, and I do mean an emergency, you can tell him. But for right now I just want to relax, alright?”

The Tardis gave a reluctant hum but agreed to these terms. She was good at giving her occupants what they wanted.

There had been a few incidents since then, but nothing that could be classified as a real crisis. Donna had to resort to using different kinds of equipment for the changing topography of her scars. The Doctor was rejected from touching her waist during a bumpy ride by a shout of “Hands!” Donna’s ostomy noises were few and far between. She would explain them away with a dismissive hint that she might have uncontrollable flatulence. The Doctor had been noticeably skeptical about these excuses.

The real incident didn’t come until the Doctor and Donna went on a nice little holiday to a sort of woodland planet that the Doctor favored. Donna had burst back through the Tardis doors in a state of disarray. She was pale and shaky, her sweater tied tightly around her midriff. She ran past the grating and the console, heading straight for her ensuite washroom. The Doctor charged through the Tardis doors moments later, frantically calling her name.

“Donna!” He ran over and hammered on her loo door.

She shouted at him to go away. The Doctor asked her shakily if she needed medical attention. At the same time, he mentally reached out to the Tardis to gauge what she knew. Finally, the Tardis could intervene. She gave her Thief all of the facts about what was happening and her suspicions of how the fiery red head had probably been very sick before she had met him.

The Doctor seemed to settle down after receiving all of the information. He waited patiently for his companion to emerge. The Doctor revealed to the Tardis that Donna had been attacked by some sort of non-sentient creature that had targeted her waist. Donna had lost her artificial attachments during the altercation, which had led to both of them panicking and seeking refuge here.

The Doctor seemed to take the information that Donna was missing an internal organ exceptionally well. He didn’t chastise her for keeping it from him, and didn’t resolve on seeing what she looked like for himself, despite his curiosity. What he did insist on was for the Tardis to download Donna’s medical history and to keep it available should she need help in the future. Donna reluctantly agreed that it was probably for the best.

Donna slowly shared her personal history with them bit by bit over their travels. She was upfront about what she needed and what made her uncomfortable. The Doctor and the Tardis found small ways in which to help, whether that was to make the ensuite washroom larger or to cover up her ostomy noises with a ruckus of different noises of their own. They made her laugh and smile softly at their antics.

When Donna needed medical attention for something, the Doctor treated her attachments like another part of her. He didn’t wrinkle up his face in disgust. That seemed to mean the world to Donna. She trusted the Doctor to touch her and not flinch, to help but not disregard her feelings. The Tardis grew to have a similar relationship with her.

Humans weren’t intolerable by nature, including very fragile ones. After all, all living things were brittle and breakable in a way. But somehow, especially when they were together, they felt invincible.

The End.


	2. Chapter 2

They had been on something of a waterfall themed tour. The Doctor had just shown Donna a green waterfall on an overpopulated moon when Donna had expressed interest in seeing Niagara Falls.

The little town was squat and quaint. It was right on the Canadian-American border and overrun with black squirrels. While being less fantastical than their last choice, Donna still enjoyed seeing the giant misty falls. The water thundered continuously, majestic and resplendent. After taking a long look at the main attraction, they had decided to get a hotel to fully immerse themselves in the tourist experience. The Doctor was less pleased about this decision, but admitted he had enjoyed their destination enough to stay one night.

Their hotel was small. It lacked a bidet, which Donna considered to be a major fault. Still, it suited their needs and they had roughed it in far less welcoming circumstances. They had two beds and breakfast would be served down in the lobby the following morning. It was hardly the first time they shared a hotel room together. The Doctor let Donna have the loo first before they bedded down. Donna had asked for her small purse that he had obligingly stowed away in his pockets for her.

“Oi, be careful!” She reprimanded him when he tossed it to her.

The Doctor knew that there were probably personal care products like shampoo and a spare pouch sequestrated away in it, nothing fragile. She was likely objecting to the principle of the thing. Sure enough, she tossed a spare pillow from the beds at him. He caught it with a smirk and was preparing to launch it back when she shut the door. He set it down and let his mind wander for a while.

Minutes later, several shrieks sounded from within the loo. It wasn’t the, ‘Doctor, there’s a creepy crawly looking thing in here,’ sort of cry.

“Donna?” He leaped off of the bed and strode quickly towards the door.

She made a loud pained noise and the Doctor’s hand hovered over the door knob. “Donna-”

“I’m alright! It’s my ostomy. I used the scented loo roll but it’s making my intestine burn and itch like mad.”

The Doctor realized that she was talking about the segment of small intestine that poked out of her belly. It was very sensitive and if she changed out her pouch she had needed to fastidiously clean it before applying the new pouch. If the scented loo roll had any sort of alcohol or additives, it would have made contact with what was essentially an open injury.

“Get into the shower,” He told her. “Nevermind changing, just rinse your stomach off!”

“I’m fine,” she assured him. “There’s tissues in here and I’m using them to clean off whatever that stuff was.” Her voice was still pinched sounding.

He heard her use the sink to presumably moisten the tissues. The Doctor rustled around in his pockets, searching for the biodegradable little packet of additive free wipes.

“How’s your stomach looking? Any swelling or tearing? Here, I have some tissues that are free of anything-”

She groaned again, but quickly reassured him that she was alright. The Doctor wanted to assist her, but knew that she willfully protected this part of herself.

“Come out here if it’s hurting you,” he told her firmly.

Hopefully it was just isopropyl alcohol on the scented paper that had caused the burning sensation. There was silence and rustling for a while. The Doctor heard the tell-tale ‘snip snap’ of her locking another pouch into place. He realized that it must have not have been a severe reaction if she was already covering herself up.

Sure enough, she came out shortly thereafter. She appeared to be better, if a bit flushed. She nearly stumbled into him, not expecting the Doctor to still be hovering just outside of the door.

“I’m fine, you big lump.” She swatted at him gently and with affection. “I managed to get it all off, but thanks.” She smiled a little.

He felt his adrenaline die down and settle. He smiled in turn, pleased that it had been only a minor incident.

* * *

The air was hot and humid as they stepped into the hustle and bustle of the busy marketplace. Donna pressed her hand over the plastic circle under her shirt, making certain that it wasn’t sliding. She glanced down to check that nothing was ballooning or creating a visible bump. The Doctor ushered her towards a booth selling some sort of crystal that he hadn’t seen in person before. Donna checked and rechecked herself, taking advantage of his distraction. She evidently wasn’t discreet enough. The Doctor’s gaze drifted down briefly.

“Everything alright?”

“Yes,” Donna said hastily, forcing her arm back to her side.

He narrowed his eyes slightly, but it wasn’t long before he was happily showing her another wonder. He held her hand this time, occasionally swinging or squeezing it. Now it was Donna’s turn to glance down with puzzlement. Why did it feel like he was keeping her limb captive?

“You don’t need to do that so often. You look lovely,” he said, as if reading her thoughts.

Donna sighed, allowing herself to be trained like some wayward thing. He had been acting like this a lot lately, refusing to let her slight herself verbally or praising her for the smallest of actions. She grumbled, feeling smothered. She felt him run his thumb over her hand. He did this several times, soothing and stroking. She finally looked up at his face. His eyes were wide and earnest as he gazed back at her.

_Let me help._

He didn’t have to say it; It was written clearly in his deep brown eyes. Donna sighed and let her hand remain pinned within his. She had known he was like this, even encouraged it during the devastation of Pompeii. She had just never anticipated it being used on her.

The Doctor smiled softly and dragged her along to see countless incredible things. It wasn’t long before she had forgotten about making certain she was presentable when there were new planets to discover. He only had to capture her hand for a few more trips before Donna dropped the anxious habit. She just intertwined their fingers for the comfort of it. He had raised his eyebrows, but made no comment.

Eventually, she was pleased enough with their actions and her appearance to not need the emotional crutch. She gently chided him when he was a little too helpful, and instead encouraged him to continue assisting others. He had taken it with good humor.

All in all, she was feeling better about her experiences.

The End.


End file.
